Just get on board and enjoy the ride

It Sounds simple – a bus company has produced a booklet describing walks and views along one of it scheduled rural routes. Roger Ratcliffe wonders why no-one has tried it before.

Some ideas are so obvious you wonder why it took so long for the light bulb to switch on inside someone's head.

Take buses for walkers. Right from the early day-trip charabancs and rural omnibuses of a century ago, townies (no doubt humming The Happy Wanderer) put food and drink in a knapsack and set off to enjoy a long day in the countryside, working out for themselves the paths they would take once they had reached their destinations. More recently the idea of putting on special rural buses specifically targeted at ramblers and day-trippers – often with guided walks included – has been hugely successful, with services like the Ingleborough Pony, Wensleydale Explorer and the Ripon Roweller.

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But a few years ago the Cumbrian author, Mark Richards, best-known for his guidebooks to the Lakeland fells, did a bit of lateral thinking. Special bus services for walkers were fine, he thought, but there are already thousands of buses running through the countryside every day. So why not develop walks along the routes of these scheduled bus services?

And since many people were perhaps unable to walk, he reasoned, there should be an information guide to the countryside seen along the route – he called it "From A to B to See."

The result of his inspiration was a series of free booklets describing walks and views linked to bus routes in the Lake District and along the line of Hadrian's Wall.

The idea has been so successful that it is now being introduced to Yorkshire with the publication of a free booklet describing walks along the Number 24 bus route between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge, operated by the Transdev-owned Harrogate and District bus company. Other bus routes in Yorkshire have been identified for the concept, and at least one more will be announced in the next couple of months.

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The Harrogate-Pateley Bridge route has been rebranded the "Nidderdale Branch", taking its name from the old railway line which ran up the dale until it was closed to passengers in 1951 and freight in 1964.

To anyone familiar with walkers' buses in Yorkshire, it will come as no surprise to learn that Colin Speakman, the veteran rambler, dedicated bus passenger, Dales author and general recreational transport fixer has been instrumental in bringing the concept from Cumbria to Yorkshire.

A chance comment made by Mark Richards at conference in Lancashire last year, made Speakman's ears prick up and left him feeling that the idea could work in Yorkshire too.

Mark says: "It just seemed to make obvious sense to me that where you've got regular bus services you can devise a series of walks of varying lengths that are more or less parallel to the route but take in pretty countryside and interesting historical features.

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"The beauty of it is, there is no rule that says you can do just one of the walks.

"Depending on time, weather and personal fitness, you can walk as far as you like before getting the bus back. You set the limits, not the author of the walking guide."

The free Nidderdale Branch booklet has been produced by Colin Speakman and his son, Dorian, and features five walks which start and finish at different points along the Service 24 bus route, describing everything of interest to be seen through the bus window on the journey from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge.

It is one of Yorkshire's prettiest bus routes, running through the heart of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Although it covers just 18 miles, it contains a huge contrast in scenery, from the busy suburbs of Harrogate through rich pasture and parkland, to the high Dales country of heather moors and crags. The booklet

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details five country walks: Hampsthwaite to Ripley (two -and-a-half miles) which utilises the frequent Service 36 bus between Ripon and Leeds for the return; Birstwith to Dacre Banks (four-and-three-quarter miles); Pateley Bridge to Summerbridge/Dacre Banks (four-and-a-quarter miles); Brimham Rocks (five miles); and Wilsill to Wath (five-and-a-half-miles). There are also town walks around Pateley Bridge and a short history of the old Nidd Valley railway.

Colin says: "The Nidderdale bus is great for walkers and tourists, but first and foremost it is a local dale and village bus service, taking people to work, school, college, the shops, the doctor's surgery, to see friends and family, every day of the year. When you travel on a country bus you become part of the rural community. It's a way of truly experiencing the countryside."

Harrogate and District bus company's marketing director, Nigel Eggleton, says that more bus routes in Yorkshire will be given the same treatment by Transdev.

"We think it's an excellent way to enjoy our buses. You can not only relax, but because seating is higher up than in a car you enjoy

far better, uninterrupted views across walls and hedges."

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For walkers, it's an ideal opportunity to leave their cars at home and use buses. And the only footprints will be from walking boots.

Buses for walkers

The TransPaths booklet outlining five walks along the Number 24 "Nidderdale Branch" Harrogate to Pateley Bridge bus service is available at local information centres. It connects with the 36 route from Leeds to Harrogate and Ripon and is designed to take advantage of the 6.50 Gold Day unlimited travel ticket. Visit www.harrogateand district.co.uk to download a PDF version along with the latest timetable. For further details call 01423-566061.

www.dalesbusramblers. org.uk Offers a great programme of guided walks linked to DalesBus services in Wharfedale, Wensleydale, Malhamdale, Nidderdale and Swaledale.

For details of the Moorsbus services, suitable for walkers in the North York Moors National Park visit www.northyorkmoors.org.uk

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The 139 Ripon Roweller bus links the town with Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal and operates until Sunday October 31, including bank holidays. It is timed to meet the No 36 bus from Leeds and Harrogate. Visit www.littleredbus. co.uk or call 01423 526655.

CW 10/4/10